Maybe This Time

An enjoyable novel – a mix between a romantic tale, a ghost story, and a murder mystery, spiced with a pinch of humor.
Recently I read a blog post by the author, Jennifer Crusie. She complained that her juice was gone, and only skills remained. After reading this book, I must respectfully disagree. The juice is still flowing, even overflowing.
The story follows the protagonist Andie into a load of troubles. First, she is still in love with her ex-husband, the workaholic lawyer North she divorced ten years ago. Second, he asked her to take care of his two young wards – the orphaned children of his dead cousin – at least for a month… or two… or whatever it takes… and she can’t say ‘no’ to North. Third, the children live show more in the middle of nowhere, in a haunted house, and the resident ghosts of the house have their own agenda.
As Andie dealt with the belligerent ectoplasms, endured an old, cantankerous housekeeper, and tried to keep in line a horde of uninvited houseguests, I couldn’t close the book. I swallowed it in less than two days, and every minute of reading was soaked with tension and punctuated with laughter. It’s amazing how the author managed to combine the two contradictory ingredients into a delightful whole.
The contradiction also applies to Andie, a lively, caring young woman, thrown into the middle of the ghoulish derring-do by her love for her ex and her compassion for the two lonely children. With her finely-tuned common sense, Andie knows that ghosts don’t exist. Shouldn’t exist. But she also knows these particular ghosts are real. She can see them, talk to them, and she is sure they are dangerous. If she wants to help the kids, she must take the ghosts seriously.
The ghosts also continuously drive the action, which isn’t simply fast-paced. It runs helter-skelter, with a new obstacle arising every several pages. The dialog is quick and witty. The descriptions are kept to a minimum, but the moody, four-hundred-years-old house, transplanted from England together with its ghosts by an eccentric great uncle, rises from the pages to haunt the readers’ dreams. And the multitude of quirky characters are all surprisingly real and utterly diverse, especially the ghosts. A wonderful read.
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For most of Maybe This Time, I was quite prepared to hail this as a return to form for Crusie. It's got all the things I enjoy about her writing—witty dialogue, fast pace, a kind of compulsive readability, and child characters who are believable. While I rolled my eyes at their names (North and Andromeda? Seriously? At least the latter could be shortened to Andie, but I defy anyone not to feel incredibly silly at crying out 'North!' in the height of passion. What is it with genre novels and really stupid first names), I greatly enjoyed both lead characters. Both have issues, but neither are off-putting because of it—I think Crusie actually managed to succeed in creating an alpha male character I didn't want to push off a show more cliff!

However, just one page in the novel managed to pretty much destroy my favourable impression of the book. One of the secondary female characters, Kelly—who is established as being unlikeable, venal, and overly career-focused—is possessed by a ghost, May. May uses Kelly's body to have sex with three men. We are told the following, with evident narrative approval:

"It's not rape," Andie snapped. "Because May says you would have slept with all of them anyway. And since you were already doing two of them, I think she's right." She looked into the camera. "That's right, Columbus, your reporter here nailed three guys in one night, sixty percent of the adult male population of this house. Let's give the little lady a hand." (255-56)

Regardless of whether or not Kelly is a nice person—and clearly, she is not—rape is still rape. Rape is rape no matter if you previously desired the person, for whatever reason; rape is rape if you are presently married to the person. And to top off that dismissal of the emotional and physical violation of a woman with the implication that it's okay because she's 'promiscuous.' She slept with three men in one night because she was raped—and even if she had not been possessed, even if she had consensually slept with three people in one night, slut-shaming is not okay! It was disappointing and infuriating all at once, and soured me on the last 80 pages of the novel. Here's hoping that section either vanishes or is substantially reworked between now and the actual publication date. show less

This is my fourth time around for this book, but the first time in Audio form. I figured now was a good time to start my spooky reads for the year and I might as well start with one of my favorites! You have a creepy house, a horrible house keeper, two traumatized children, three ghosts, and a second chance romance. Populated with Jennifer Crusie’s unmistakable wit, and a cast of quirky side characters, this is just a fun ride that doesn’t skimp on the heart.

Jennifer Crusie's books are my ultimate comfort read - they are well written, intelligently constructed, very, very funny and above all, they tell heartwarming stories about credible people. This one is the first of her later ones that I've read, and while her early works are more or less purely Romance novels her later ones have a tendency to cross over into other genres - in this case the ghost story. The result is slightly less funny than I'm used to from her her books, but makes up for it with increased tension and general creepiness, and in general I think the mix works quite well here. Maybe This Time basically crosses His Girl Friday with Henry James' The Turn of the Screw; in fact, it stays astonishingly close to James' basic show more plotline, so much so that one might almost consider it a modern-day reworking of the 19th-century tale. It does not quite attain the literary heights of The Turn of the Screw - but then, Henry James really sucked at Romance. Also, Maybe This Time is way funnier, so I figure that makes James and Crusie about even. show less

When Andromeda (Andie) goes to her ex-husband, North's, office to return every single alimony cheque from the last ten years (did he not notice that she hadn't been cashing them?), he surprises her by offering her a job. He has become guardian of two children who have gone through a string of nannies. Since he knows her to a competent teacher who is good with children, he asks her to go downstate to care for the children for one month until arrangements can be completed for the children (Alice and Carter) to be moved back to Columbus. Oh, and by the way, the house there are reports that the house is haunted. Since neither Andie nor North believe in ghosts, they both really just want to get to the bottom of whatever is going on.

As soon show more as the plans are revealed, all hell breaks loose. Andie's boyfriend Will (who North believes is her fiancé) thinks North planned this as a way to win Andie back; therefore, he must go there to ensure that his girl remains his. North's brother is dating Kelly, a news reporter, and they both race to the house as she's in search of a story to redeem her after a scandal that has the talk of Ohio (and not in a good way). When North gets wind of this, he decides to check everything out in person. And Andie's and North's mothers both decide to join the party as soon as they find out what's going on. Meanwhile, strange things start happening, and Andie decides she might believe in ghosts in after all. Enter two experts on the paranormal.

This was a departure from what I usually expect from Crusie - light-hearted, fun, flirty romance with a healthy dash of humour. While this had some humour, it was heavy on the paranormal and was downright dark at times. There was one part near the end that reminded me a LOT of one of the worst books I've EVER read, and I almost dreaded finishing it. Thankfully, this book didn't end like That One, although it was a close call. The typical Crusie humour showed up in flashes, but I'm hoping that her book will be more in the ilk of "Tell Me Lies," "Crazy For Me," etc. show less

I love a good Jennifer Crusie novel. Her latest novel is a sweet and satisfying romp, that I devoured in two large bites.

While Crusie may not be a literary great, and her novels may never be award-winning masterpieces, they are still incredibly enjoyable.. as much so as the chocolate chip cookies the main character is always baking. A Crusie novel once in a while is a perfectly enjoyable time, with rarely a tiny issue.

The novel's characters are as wonderful as ever, quirky and fun. The back drop and added ghosties are an unusual treat, and one I met with whole-heartedly. (There is usually more romance in her novels, at least one more clinch added to get your blood steaming; but let's face it, this main character didn't even have time show more to shower regularly with everything she was faced with in the novel. So this time I won't mind at all.)

The children, of course, were adorable as could be. You might love them within pages, like everyone else. I will always sing the hit song "Achy-breaky Heart" with the words "I don't like nuts, I really don't like nuts" from now on. Not that I EVER listen to that song...

The ONLY problem I had with this novel is that Andie was always baking!! While it's a great incentive to get your audience back in the kitchen - and let's face it, most of the readers are going to be women. But almost daily batches of cookies and banana nut bread? Who was eating all of this, the ghosts?? Not that this was a problem, since this is literary-land, where just about anything goes.. but by the time I was halfway through the book last night, I HAD TO put it down, go into the kitchen, and make a batch of banana nut bread! Man, I'd better not gain any more weight, because of this novel... My kids were very happy to see it the next morning. My thighs? Not so much!!

Anyway, if you are looking for a light-hearted read, the kind that takes a day, maybe two, to finish, then this is the book for you. It's been quite a while since Jennifer Crusie has written anything in book form, and I, for one, am damn glad she has done so. Her books always make me feel warm and happy inside, and give me a hope for the possibility of that "one true love" again. show less

Andie and North divorced 10 years ago after being married only a year. But, just before Andie is planning to get remarried, she has some unfinished business to clear up with North. While taking care of that, North asks if she will go stay with his niece and nephew, now orphans, who have had a really hard time. North is hoping Andie can convince the kids to leave the house they have been living in to come stay with him. But, when Andie gets to the house, there is much more there than she bargained for! Not only does Andie fall in love with those “troubled” kids, there are.. spirits... who don't want to let the kids go.

I ended up really enjoying this. I listened to the audio, and am happy to say it was very rare for my mind to show more wander. I don't like kids, but Carter and Alice grew on me. I loved the ghost story in this book, and that was mainly why I picked it up, as I'm not always a romance fan (but I can get “into” some of them). This one was easy to get into because it was heavier on the ghost story and lighter on the romance. There were also some great characters in this book. show less